Ever been confused about what to eat and when to eat it?

Should you eat a protein only breakfast or have some carbs and fat too?

What about meal timing for a workout?  Do you have to have a protein shake immediately after your workout if you want to see results?

Do you need to have a protein and carb snack before your workout to provide you with the energy you need to make it through the workout and perform at the level you want?

What about nighttime eating?  Is it okay to eat after dinner?

Should you have a protein shake, or other high protein food before you go to bed to help your muscles repair?

That’s a lot of questions and to be totally honest I could go on because I’ve received so many questions about this one topic in the past couple months it’s making my head spin.

I know the root of the questions and we’ll cover that in a bit, but first let’s clear something up…

Read More→

Well, another week and another Challenge!

How have you been doing with these over the past few weeks.

We started with the fruit and fat, then moved on to the timing of water drinking – all of which are simple to implement, but not always easy.

Does my reasoning for asking you to do these Challenges make sense?

Remember we’re not trying ot make HUGE, drastic changes in a short time because that’s what leads to anger and frustration, rather we’re trying to implement small and simple changes over the course of a few weeks.

We’re building on each and every Challenge so that over the course of a month or two, you will have replaced some Bad Habits with Good Habits, lost some weight and inches and learned more about yourself – what you like, don’t like, what your body wants and when, and how certain things affect your energy levels and mood…amongst others!

This week’s Challenge is another Nutrition Challenge and it’s all about healthy smoothies.

I’m a huge fan of smoothies, but there are some caveats I want to cover before I tell you what the Challenge is.

Read More→

So how’d you do with last week’s Challenge?

Was it easy?  I know it was simple, but simple ain’t always easy.

One thing you can’t say is that it was difficult to implement.  Adding the fruit and fatty foods on a regular basis is, in theory, easy to implement.  All it takes is some planning.

One thing I ask my clients is to plan ahead.  Don’t leave your day to chance – plan it out.  Plan your meals, snacks and workouts.  Write out a list, pack the foods up the night before (if necessary), so that all you have to do is eat them.

If you leave it to chance and assume you’ll remember…

…you won’t.  Trust me on this one because I do it all the stinkin’ time!

Anywho, on to this week’s Challenge!

We have another Nutrition Challenge and this one is pretty easy…if you remember it

This one has to do with water, but I’m not just asking you to drink plenty of water.

This Challenge has to do with the timing of your drinking the water.

Read More→

In talking with my clients over the years, lunch is often the “deal breaker” in terms of eating healthy vs. eating junk.

Why?

To be totally honest I don’t know…it doesn’t make sense to my trainer brain.  Lunch should be relatively simple.  Just plan ahead so you don’t let your food-starved brain make the decision and you’ll be fine.

But in the real world, where not everyone lives with my trainer brain (and this is a good thing…) it can be difficult and I do understand the problem.

You go, go, go all morning and then all of a sudden realize “I’m hungry…must eat!” and your stomach takes you to the nearest food choice and often times poor choices are made.

Or, you eat on a whim and make poor choices…

Or, you think you’re choosing something healthy and good for you at a restaurant, when in reality you can’t trust many restaurants unless they state on the menu how many calories are in the dubious meal.

To help out here’s a quick list of 3 easy and healthy lunch swaps for those of you who find yourself dining out…

Read More→

Hey hey!

I’ve been thinking about doing something a bit differently lately…

I know that can be scary, but this is going to be fun.

Every Monday, for the next 10-12 weeks, I am going to share a Challenge with you.

Some weeks may be nutrition related, others may be exercise/workout related and some may be more ‘mental.’

I’ve been in this game for quite some time and I know Monday is usually the day when people either,

A) Feel guilty about the weekend and want to ‘fix it’ on Monday (every Monday is New Year’s in the fitness/diet world), or…

B) After taking it easy over the weekend in terms of workouts and letting their nutrition habits relax a bit, are ready to do something different on Monday. 

I don’t know which group you fall under, but I feel pretty comfortable assuming you’re in one camp or the other.

Because of that, I thought it would be fun to start every week with something that’s a type of Challenge to either help get you back on the wagon, or give you something new to focus on.

Most of these aren’t going to be overly difficult or freaky (although a couple may be!).  They’re going to be something that will get you to focus more on what you want and help you focus more on what you’re doing.

All too often we go through this whole ‘fitness game’ mindless.  We don’t think about what we’re doing and don’t think about what we’re eating and these are going to be things that help you focus a bit more on the moment.

Sound good?

Coolio.

Okay, this week’s challenge is going to be nutrition related and it’s actually two-fold.  Read More→